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King Phillip
King Phillip is an AI player encountered in Stronghold Crusader and Stronghold Crusader Extreme. Historical background King Phillip II Augustus was a French ruler between 1180-1223 AD. He controlled France very well and he was a talented general too. He forged strong alliances and was the leader of the French army during the Third Crusade, but eventually returned home after the German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa drowned in a river, leaving the English to fight alone for the Holy Land. Character and personality In many ways, the Phillip in the game is the European version of the Sultan, a lord who prefers feasting to planning military strategies. Like the Sultan, Phillip shows a wide variety of somewhat exaggerated expressions depending on his mood and military situation. Militarily he is somewhat reckless, rarely gathering nearly enough troops to effectively besiege a castle. This is most likely because he is too impatient for his knights and spearmen to be out in the field to spend time gathering a substantial force of them inside his castle. Ultimately this impatience is due the fact that, as he often says (and shows with his yawning), he is tired of the conflict, and as a result of this can no longer be bothered devising military strategies, which have evidenly failed so many times in the past. He rarely is of much practical help to his allies, rarely helping out in times of trouble or attacking enemies if asked to, dismissing their requests somewhat aloofly at times. However he does appreciate his allies, and never criticises them unlike some of the other AI lords, often praising them, as he does with his own knights for their courage. He also is willing, within reason, to share goods with his allies (if not under economic pressure himself). Castles and strategies Unlike the real conqueror, the in-game Phillip is a weak player, relying on his small knight raids. He is a rather pathetic fighter and he is worried about failure and dishonor. Economy Phillip's economy is rather small and is heavily depending on iron. He constructs loads of iron mines to provide a stable income and to create armour for his knights. He supplies his granary with apples and frequently buys in bread and cheese. He places some woodcutters, but does not build any quarries (perhaps due to him using little stone for walls), leaving him vulnerable in the early game. He places good things and religious buildings to boost his popularity and troop morale. Offense Phillip is a very lazy fighter, as he prefers to use small groups of units as an attempt to cause any damage. His 'siege forces' consist of only spearmen, who are usually no match for even the smallest defense, as spearmen are weak, slow and unarmored units. Foolishly, he does not bring supporting archers (as even the Rat does). Rarely, if he is doing particularly well and has built up a large overall army, he will send large numbers of spearmen in his attacks. Occasionally he may attack with a few knights or use a lone catapult at the same time as his spearmen attack, but these are not officially part of the attack, as when the spearmen are killed, Phillip will send his 'attack failed' message. His raids are more of a threat, consisting of his signature units, knights, sent in groups of up to 8, targeting farms, quarries, iron mines and woodcutters, and even castle walls and towers. These groups appear every now and then in the game, losing their effectiveness as the game progresses and more opposing defensive units start to counter them. Sometimes one or two catapults slowly roll forward to assist them. The weakness of Phillip's main announced attacks may therefore be used as a trick, as it allows his more dangerous knights to strike without warning. Defense King Phillip constructs castles unique in design. The castle front is of reasonable strength, containing thick walls with crenulation, two square towers with ballistae (but few if any archers) and a large gatehouse. The sides and the rear are covered with a single layer of moat and a small gatehouse. The defensive structures and walls are abandoned and only the keep has some means of defense. Knights guard all corners at the outside of the castle. Phillip either sends out a pair of archers or a large squad of spearmen to counter harassments. Near his fortress, Phillip may send a few of his knights out to attack besieging forces. How to deal with Defense His spearman attacks, much like those of the Rat, are usually all extinguished before they reach your walls if you have a few archers on your towers and walls. However, like the Rat, if he is doing particularly well, and has large overall troop numbers (250 or more), he may send a large enough group of spearmen for some to be able to reach your walls. From early on in the game, make sure that you hire several groups of macemen to guard your quarry, iron mine, woodcutters and farm areas. Macemen are fast and can react quickly to the swift knights. Make sure all the normal castle buildings are enclosed behind your walls. Make sure you have plenty of missile troops, ideally some of these being crossbowmen, at the top of the walls and towers of your castle, as Phillip's knights will eagerly hack at the walls and try to create a breach. Offense Besieging Phillip's castle is relatively easy, but watch out for his knights sallying out to attack. Trebuchets or catapults can be used to take out the front gatehouse and the towers with ballistae in them, also creating access to the keep meaning the back moat does not need to be filled in. 20 fire ballistae should be used to make short work of the archers and spearmen on his keep. The fire ballistae can then set fire to the fortress, killing his remaining knights, and after the fire has ended, 20 assassins should manage to kill the lord. Navigation ru:Филипп II Август Category:Characters